Upon first listen to Joywave’s “Winnipeg” from their 77777 mixtape, I was pretty sure I had stumbled upon a ripped version of Deadboy’s “Fireworks.” But then the vocals popped in (at 0:24).
The repetitively washed out, “What could I become/And where could I go” set to a powerful piano tranquilizes you. This five-piece band reminded me where we’re all at with their simple yet hypnotic lyrics; as we sit here listening to music, dreaming big and hoping we’ll go far places, we have to chill out. It’s exactly what we need in today’s information anxious cyberculture: a good mix of mellow lyrics and upbeat music.
Then the pick up comes in (at 1:50) and it’s a little less mellow, yet still chill.
So you get the best of both worlds, soothing vocals then hypnotic beats. Musical genius incarnate? I’m down.
This is the first track to Joywave’s mixtape titled 77777. As a YouTube commenter aptly put it best: “A new style of mashup is tried and succeeded here.” Agreed. Check out our fearless leader’s review of their song Traveling at the Speed of Light from back in August 2011 for more successes. He frames this type of unfamiliar vocals and backing pretty accurately – “in a moment of musical genius.”
Yep, Joywave, musical genius incarnate. As I said above, I’m down.
Online music discovery requires hunting and gathering through cyberspace to find exactly what you want. Luckily, Indie Shuffle is here to do that for you. So sit back, relax and enjoy some joywave. I might as well give this band their own genre name – I mean what the fuck does chillwave mean anyways? Joywave seems much better – there’s an emphasis on the joy aspect, the enchantment.
Check out the simply sexy website and, as usual, follow the five-piece act on Twitter and Facebook to learn more about them.
You can download the mixtape for free here.